Upholstered seating and furniture



1962 N. c. STANTON 3,070,402

UPHOLSTERED SEATING AND FURNITURE Filed April 26, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. NOE/VAN C. .Sl'A/W'O/ Dec, I962 N. 1 STANTON UPHOLSTER'EID'X SEATING AND FURNITURE] sheets sheefi 2 Filed April. 26', 1960:

States atent 3,070,402 Patented Dec. 25, 1962 Free - 3,070,402 UPHOLSTERED SEATING AND FURNITURE Norman C. Stanton, 15411 SE. 42nd, Bellevue, Wash. Filed Apr. 26, 1960, Ser. No. 24,761 3 Claims. (Cl. 297-421) My invention relates to the art of overstuffed upholstered furniture, illustrated by but not limited to, chairs, love seats, davenports, and sectional furniture. Another illustrative art where my invention may be employed is in connection with the seats and backs of automobile cushions.

In the prior art of constructing such type of furniture or seats, box-like members were provided for the seat, backs and arm rests and the same were secured together to provide the basic frame of the piece of furniture. The box-like construction, for example the seat, comprises front and back rails as well as side rails, each forming a square or rectangle with the rails and sides on edge and with coil or sinuous type of springs operating within the box-like structure. Considerable bracing and considerable labor was involved in fabricating the prior art box-like members to provide the basic structural frame of the piece of furniture.

It is an object of my invention to supersede the boxlike construction and to provide a fiat panel member supporting layers of the product, sold on the market as polyether foam, and hereinafter to as such.

As illustrative of the economy obtainable by use of my invention, a seat, which would cost from $6.00 to $7.00 under a given material and labor situation, may be produced at a savings of approximately $2.00.

A primary object of my invention is to provide a relatively rigid flat sheet base, such as A" plywood, which for a sheet lies substantially in a horizontal plane and is raised above the floor by any suitable legs or other support. Next I secure to said plywood base a relatively thick and uniform first layer of polyether foam having the desired thickness to provide for suitable resiliency to support the buttocks of the person using the furniture. Next I secure to said first layer, a second layer of polyether foam at the forward edge portion of the seat so as to support the underside of the thighs of a person sitting on the furniture and at a location just above the underside of the knees.

Thus primary objects of my invention are to reduce the cost of the upholstered furniture, provide for utmost comfort and ease, and to provide a sturdy and sound piece of furniture which resists wracking.

Another object of my invention is to produce aseat member from polyether foam and where the edge portion of the seat supports the underside of the thighs of a person and is of at least sufficient stiffness so as to provide support at that area and preferably with less stiffness where the seat supports the buttocks and adjacent areas of the thighs.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description of the same proceeds and the invention will be best understood from the consideration of the accompanying detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described since obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

FIGURE 1 represents an exploded end view showing primarily the base and cushion layer of polyether foam;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, with portions broken away, of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on broken lines 33 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view with portions broken away to show details of construction of a completed device made in accordance with this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 of the drawings showing a further modification which may be employed in this invention.

Now referring to the drawings, a base 10 is a relatively rigid flat sheet base normally lying substantially in a horizontal plane and a suitable material for the same is Douglas Fir Plywood 5 ply-%" thick. This base 10 is supported a suitable distance above a floor by legs 12, the number thereof depending upon the relative length of the base 10. Thus for example, chairs of average dimensions will require four legs while davenports will require six, so that we have a middle leg on the front and the back, as well as the corner legs as best depicted by FIG. 2 of the drawings. The legs 12 may be secured to the base 10 as by threadingly engaging the same, adhered to openings in the base, or flush mounted on the underside thereof.

A first relatively thick and uniform layer, such as 4" thick, of polyether foam is secured to the central and rearward portions of the base 10, as by gluing, indicated by the glue line 16. The layer 14 is preferably of the resiliency commonly sold on the market as a Medium. The specification of such polyether foam for a layer 4" thick is that it will deflect 50% when loaded 26# to 33? per 50 square inches.

The second layer or frontal layer 18 is first secured to the layer 14 and then to the base 10. In practice, it is best to fabricate and secure the layers 14 and 18 together and then secure them as a unit to the base 10. The layer 18 is, preferably, of less resiliency than the layer 14 and is at least as firm as the polyether foam sold on the market as Firm. The specification of such polyether foam for a layer 4" thick is that it will deflect 50% when loaded 34# to 48# per 50 square inches.

I have tried other foams, as foam rubbers and polyesters, and they are either too resilient or too stiff for either layer 14 or 18. Thus the selection of polyether foam of the resiliencies mentioned was a discovery in itself.

Blue line 20 in FIG. 1 of the drawings indicates that the layer 14 has been adhered to the layer 18. Also to indicate that the layers 14 and 18 have been adhered to the base 10, I have shown the glue line 22. The upper surface 24 of the layer 18 inclines upwardly in a direction away from the base 10 so that the longitudinal front edge portion of the layer 18 will provide the desired support for the under part of the thighs adjacent the underside of the knees of the person sitting on the seat. I have found that the layer 18 should have the stiffness indicated in order to provide a comfortable seat and the desired support for average people. The layer 14 is preferably of greater resiliency than layer 18 for the comfort of the users of the seat.

By' having the resiliency of the member 18 as stiff as indicated, I am able to eliminate the prior need for a box-like structure on the seats of overstuffed furniture, cars, and in other fields where an overstuffed seat is needed.

Next I apply a fabric 26 over the members 14-18 and this may be accomplished by tucking the marginal portion 28 around and under the front marginal portion ofthe base 10 and then tacking the same in place. The rear marginal portion 30 of the fabric 26 may be tacked to the upper surface of the base 10. As will best appear in FIG. 3,,the portion 30 extends angularly downward and is tacked to the upper surface of the base 10 while in said same figure the portion 28 has been tucked around and below the base 10 and then tacked in place.

The fabric 26 is adhered to the layer 14 as best indi- 3 cated in FIG. 2 of the drawings at 32. Without this gluing, the fabric 26 could not be tightly drawn in form fitting relation around the layers 14 and 18 and held in desired tension.

In FIGS. 3 of the drawings, I have shown the usual box construction for the back including therein usual coil or sinuous springs within the box-like member 34. Such a box-like member can be secured to the base 10 by use of dowels and glue and the like. The back box structure will include the rails 36, vertical supports 38, and vertical end supports 40. The remaining portion of the back is conventional and in the interest of completeness parts have been broken away to show the fabric 42, burlap 44, sinuous springs 46, padding 48 and cover 50.

The arm box-like structures 52 are secured to the top of the base 10 as by dowels and glue and are also secured to the back box-like member 34 to provide bracing for the bases, back and arms of the piece of furniture.

Prior art construction provided for a seat construction similar to the back box-like construction 34 and the contrast of simplicity of my construction is well illustrated by comparing FIG. 4 to FIG. 2 of the drawings.

The box-like members 52 may consist of braced wooden members to form the box, covered by padding 54 and which in turn is covered by covering 56 of suitable fabric.

FIG. 5 of the drawings shows the same base 10, legs 12, layers 14 and 18 and the same box-like construction can be used to form the arms at the respective ends of the upholstered furniture. The new feature in FIG. 5 of the drawings constitutes the use of a relatively rigid flat sheet of material at the back which again may be made of plywood. The back 58 is secured to the base and then the box-like members 60 may be employed to securely bind the back 58 to the base 10 and sufficient rigidity can be built into the structure to prevent wracking and provide a sturdy frame. To the back 58 is secured by gluing, polyether foam 64 in a layer form of suitable shape and design to provide a back cushion for the davenport. The layer 64 is covered by a suitable fabric 66. Cushions, such as the cushion 62, of FIG. 4 are preferably used to provide the final seat of either of the pieces of furniture shown in the drawings.

Thus I have illustrated in connection with my invention an upholstered seat comprising the relatively rigid flat sheet base 10. This base sheet 10 normally lies in a substantially horizontal plane, that is when it is being used. Secured to such base 19 is a relatively thick (such as 6") and relatively uniform layer of polyether foam 14 functioning as the cushion on all except the frontal edge portion of the seat. Secured to the first mentioned layer and also secured to the base 10 is the second layer of polyether foam 18. The layer 18 is at least of the resiliency known as firm and the layer 14 is preferably of greater resiliency. Also the layer 18 inclines upwardly away from base 10, so as to provide in the final seat support for the underside of the sitters thighs at the area of the knee region.

Next I have provided a construction which can be used with a normal back employed in upholstered furniture or I may employ a piece of relatively flat rigid material such as the sheet 58 and this piece of plywood can be rather cheaply and easily covered with a layer of polyether foam so as to form the back of an upholstered piece of furniture and the structure will retain rigidity by the use of end box construction such as 60 shown in FIG. 5. The construction of FIG. 5 is not useful in connection with sectional furniture not having two arm rests on each piece of furniture or bracing giving similar results.

Also it will be apparent that by the use of the base 10 that I have provided a structural frame for overstuffed furniture wherein the base 10, arm boxes 52, and box-like member 34 or back board 58 constitute the structural frame of the overstuffed piece of furniture and in each instance permits the use of a seat comprising the layer 14 and the front layer 18.

When a fabric is to cover the layers 14 and 18, preferably I employ glue 32 at the area of the juncture between panels 14 and 18 so that the covering fabric can be stretched to fit properly.

Obviously changes may be made in the dimensions, arrangement and parts of this invention without departing from the principle thereof, the above setting forth only a preferred form of embodiment of this invention.

I claim:

1. Upholstered seating comprising a relatively rigid fiat sheet base normally lying in substantially a horizontal plane; a first relatively thick and uniform layer of polyether foam secured to the central and rear surface portions of said base; a second and frontal layer of polyether foam secured to said first base, adhered to said first layer, and having its upper surface extending forwardly and angularly upward from the upper surface of said first base; and a covering member for the top surfaces of said two layers adhered to the tops of said two layers in the area of the juncture of the same and free of the remaining portions of the said tops of said two layers.

2. The combination of claim 1 where the second layer has less resiliency than the first layer.

3. The combination of claim 1 where the first said layer having a resiliency of not greater than medium, medium resiliency being that degree of resiliency allowing a four inch thick test piece to deflect fifty percent when loaded between the range of twenty-six to thirty-three pounds per fifty square inches and the second layer has a resiliency of not less than about firm, firm resiliency being that degree of resiliency allowing a fourinch thick test piece to deflect fifty percent when loaded between the range of thirty-four to forty-eight pounds per fifty square inches.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,567,402 Rauschenberg Sept. 11, 1951 2,833,340 Shapiro May 6, 1958 2,980,168 Ross Apr. 18, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 841,400 France Feb. 6, 1939 865,431 France Feb. 24, 1941 1,148,287 France June 17, 1956 1,076,919 Germany Mar. 3, 1960 

